welds in pro mechanica

[slamdfullsize]

i need to weld two surfaces together. my problem is that they do not touch. they are about 0.125" away from eachother and when we manufacture them, this space has been left for the weld. Yes, thats kind of a big weld, but we need the full penetration between these two parts, thus the gap has been left.

my question, to model this in mechanica, should the parts touch, or will the weld connection take care of this for me?

reading thru the help file on welds makes it seem that they need to touch and that welding two things that are seperated like this doesnt work well.

 

[Farmboy71]

That's a good question, but you might want to try the Eng-Tips PTCro/Mechanica forum.

I've done a little analysis in Mechanica and I think it will have a problem with a gap. Someone in the forum with more analysis experience may have a workaround.